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On April 19, 2008, Bernard Hopkins, 43, made his second defence of The Ring Magazine Light Heavyweight Title against Joe Calzaghe at the Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nevada. Calzaghe, 36, was making his American and light-heavyweight debut, but went into the fight – billed as ‘The Battle of the Planet’ – undefeated in all of his 44 professional bouts, including 32 knockouts.

Consequently, Calzaghe started 3/1 favourite but, after just a minute of the opening round, found himself on the seat of his pants, for only the third time in his career, after Hopkins landed a short right hand. He rose quickly, but had suffered a cut on the bridge of his nose, which worsened during round two as Hopkins continued to enjoy success with his right hand. Indeed, Hopkins was the faster, more aggressive fighter for the first four rounds, as Calzaghe thought twice about throwing punches in the number, and ferocity, that had hitherto been his trademark.

However, Calzaghe gradually recovered his composure, regained his confidence and raised his work rate, such that he started to put pressure on Hopkins and went on to command the second half of the fight. In the tenth round, an increasingly desperate Hopkins milked an apparent low blow for all it was worth, causing the referee to delay the fight for several minutes while he recovered. However, his antics were to no avail, with Calzaghe continuing to dominate until the final bell and eventually winning by a contentious split decision, 116-111, 115-112, 113-114.

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On June 9, 1978, the late Ken Norton Sr. made the first defense of his World Boxing Council (WBC) Heavyweight Title against the hitherto unbeaten Larry Holmes at Caesars Palace Sports Pavilion, Las Vegas. Norton was awarded the WBC title in March, 1978, after Leon Spinks reneged on a prior agreement to face him and opted, instead, for a lucrative rematch with Muhammad Ali, whom he had suprisingly outpointed, by split decision, at the Hilton Hotel the previous month.

Norton, 34, was past his prime, but vastly more experienced than Holmes, 28, so started 6/5 favourite to retain his 84-day-old title. However, it was Holmes who made the early running, using his exceptional hand speed to win four of the first five rounds. By contrast, Norton started slowly and it was not until the sixth round that he started to hurt his opponent. Remarkably, having lost four of the first five rounds, Norton won five of the next six.

In rounds twelve and thirteen, Holmes responded, landing a succession of heavy shots as Norton, once again, covered up. Thereafter, Norton went on the offensive, once again, landing six unanswered punches to Holmes’ head and body at the end of the penultimate round and starting the final round in similarly aggressive fashion. Holmes fought back, launching a late flurry which, momentarily, looked to have Norton in trouble and the fight ended with the pair slugging it out, toe-to-toe, in the centre of the ring. The result went to the judges, with Holmes winning by split decision, and the minimum margin, 143-142, 143-142, 142-143.